


Babysitters Club

by SmoothFluffle



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Baby Neighbor, Babysitting, F/M, Gen, Holly has a lot of questions, Holly just wants to play, Mike and El are excellent babysitters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 19:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12800709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoothFluffle/pseuds/SmoothFluffle
Summary: His Friday night turned out a little different than what he imagined at the start of the week, but he wasn’t complaining.Mike and El (and Holly) as babysitters.





	Babysitters Club

**Author's Note:**

> The Sesame Street episode El and Holly were watching is episode 2558.  
> Boys with babies are such a sight, aren't they? :)  
> Btw, I totally stole the "Hey, stranger." scene from Mr. and Mrs. Smith ;)

"Remember to give her the bottle in about an hour, okay? She usually wakes up a bit cranky, so play some soothing music and you’re good to go.”

Mike listened closely to his neighbor’s instructions while he took the diaper bag from her.

“She’s been asleep for a few hours now, so be careful, okay?” Sally said to El as she put the sleeping baby on her arms. El let out an ‘ _aw’_ at the sweet sleepy face squished against her shoulder, and nodded happily at the baby’s mother.

“You’ve got our numbers, right? Do they have them, Karen?”

“Relax, Sally. She’s going to be fine. She’s in good hands! Now, go before you miss your reservation.” Karen Wheeler said to her nervous neighbor, sharing a quick laugh with the baby’s father.

“Oh, well. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything, okay? I’ll check up on her in about an hour-“

“Sally! She’s going to be fine!” Sally’s husband said a little exasperated at his wife’s antics.

“Oh, all right! We’re leaving! Please take care of her, guys. And thank you!” Sally said as she was ushered out of the house by her husband.

The front door closed behind the couple, and Mike walked further into the house to put the diaper bag on the couch.

“Are you guys sure you’re going to be okay?” Karen said as she patted Holly’s ponytails while the little girl was staring intensely at Elmo on the TV.

“Well, we can’t say no now, can we?” Mike laughed as he watched El come closer with the sleeping baby, and sit next to his little sister on the couch.

“We’ll be alright, Mrs. Wheeler.” El dimpled at her mother in law.

“All right then. Remember, no sugar for Holly after 7.” She reminded her son, as she patted his cheek and ignored the offended look the little girl threw her way.

“I can control myself! I haven’t had a sugar high in years.”

“And we don’t need one now, honey.” Her mother said before she disappeared to shout her husband’s name, ushering him to their own dinner night.

“All right sweetie, be good for El and your brother while we’re gone, okay?” Karen kissed her daughter’s head while putting on her coat.

After a few more instructions and goodbyes, the Wheelers were gone.

Mike went to the kitchen to take out a can of Sprite, and then came back to see his little sister kneeling on the couch to get a better view of the baby on his girlfriend’s arms.

“When is she waking up?” Holly wondered as she stroked a gentle finger on the baby’s nose and giggled when it twitched a little.

“Hopefully not soon.” Mike thought out loud.

“Babies are so boring when they’re asleep.” Holly sighed as she went back to her TV show.

An hour later, after Sally’s call, Mike started serving plates of food for himself and the two girls on the living room. His mom had prepared dinner for them, as she expected them to have their hands full because of both Holly and the baby; but that hadn’t been the case yet.

Baby Hannah still slept peacefully cocooned inside her soft blanket, now on top of a bed made of pillows on the pulled-out La-Z Boy, preventing her from rolling on her sides.

“Girls, come on! Dinner’s ready.” Mike called as he set the plates down on the table, and went back to get their drinks.

“Just a second! It’s almost over.” El responded from her spot on the couch. Every time she came over, Holly induced her into watching whatever TV show the little blond was watching, and that was their current occupation; Holly nestled against her side as they giggled, watching Kermit the frog try to interview a hat-wearing cow.

Mike shook his head and chuckled a little, not believing the committed relationship El had with Sesame Street.

A few minutes later when he was coaxing Holly into eating her baby carrots, he held his breath as they watched Baby Hannah squirm. The baby gave a whine, and then settled down again.

“Aww, I want her to wake up so we can play!” Pouted Holly as her desired playmate went back to sleep.

He laughed at her obvious disappointment and accepted the drink El pushed into his hand along with the kiss she planted on his lips.

“Will I have to do that?” Holly asked curiously.

“Do what, Holls?” El asked as she sat down again from her trip to the kitchen.

“Kiss my boyfriend?”

“What?!” He spluttered as El laughed at his obvious discomfort. “Why are you asking that?”

“Do you have a boyfriend, Holly?” El asked, amusingly staring at him as he threw a glare at her. She was obviously enjoying the situation.

“Nooo...?” Holly answered dragging out her response as she lowered her gaze at her food. “Well...” she started hesitantly.

“What?! Ugh, Nancy should be the one suffering this, not me!” Mike let his head roll back on his shoulders as El laughed and Holly giggled.

.

.

.

After dinner and another episode of Sesame Street, El was upstairs accompanying Holly as the little girl took a bath.

Mike settled down on the living room with a bowl of popcorn and a fresh can of soda and gave a little ‘ _aw yeah!_ ’ as Poltergeist suddenly appeared on the TV.

His Friday night turned out a little different than what he imagined at the start of the week, but he wasn’t complaining.

On Wednesday afternoon he decided El and him were having a move night on Friday. But his plans dimmed when his mom announced he had to babysit Holly, as she and his dad were going out for dinner.

He didn’t mind, as he knew his sister was not that much of a bother and because of her strict bedtime, he would still have some time alone with El.

But then sweet Sally Roberts from next door asked Karen if she could watch her 3 month old for a few hours, because her husband surprised her with an anniversary dinner on a fancy restaurant.

His mother didn’t know the word no, it seemed, because instead of cancelling on Sally, she appointed _him_ and El as Hannah’s babysitters.

He wasn’t that thrilled as it had been a while since he watched a baby; and he never had to do it alone, because his mom was always present when he decided to play babysitter to a baby Holly.

His girlfriend, on the other hand, was over the moon. El had seen baby Hannah only a few times, but she loved babies and because she was such a sweetheart, she agreed instantly.

“ _I’ll make it up to you_.” She had told him with a pointed look as he had started to whine to his mom about her running his date night.

That had shut him up.

“Ugh, not Poltergeist!”

He gave a jump as El’s voice appeared behind him. She reappeared next to a pijama wearing Holly, and sat down closely, taking the remote from him.

“Mom said I can’t watch that because that’s not for little children.” Holly said as she sat down next to El on the couch.

“Well, you’re not supposed to be here anyway.” Mike fired back, receiving a thigh-shove from El and he chuckled as Holly stuck her tongue out at him. He reached quickly past El and made a move as to pinch his little sister’s tongue between his fingers. With a squeal, Holly moved further away from him, quickly tucking her tongue back in her mouth.

A sudden cry broke out from the La-Z Boy and a tiny hand appeared out of the makeshift nest.

“Oh, she’s up now.” He exclaimed as El stood up and went to take the crying baby in her arms.

Holly gave an excited squeal as El bounced the baby in her arms and quietly shushed her. “Mike, the song?”

“Oh, shoot!” He ran upstairs to retrieve his guitar from his room and came back down to see Holly take the bottle from the diaper bag and pass it to El.

“Wait, you have to check the temperature.”

“What?” El made a confused face.

He handed his guitar to Holly while he took the bottle from her and squished some drops on the back of his hand. He licked them and then made a face at the unexpected sweetness of the milk. “It’s alright.” (Later on, he would _not_ be alright as he found out just _what_ kind of milk it was).

He returned the bottle to his girlfriend and watched as she sat the baby up against her and put the bottle’s nipple in Hannah’s mouth.

His fingers danced on the strings of his guitar, playing a random tune and humming noncommittally to soothe the baby’s dying cries.

El threw him a smile as Hannah sniffled, and then her gentle fingers wiped the tear tracks from the baby’s chubby cheeks.

“Why do babies cry when they wake up?” Holly asked curiously.

“Because they get scared.” El answered as she fondly watched the baby suck from her bottle.

“Scared of what?”

“Of not finding anyone when they wake up.” Mike answered as he watched his girlfriend. El was so easy on the eyes.

“But what if there’s someone with them when they wake up? Why do they keep crying?”

“Because... well, they usually wake up because they’re hungry, or because they need to get their diaper changed. So, Hannah was hungry and that was a funny feeling on her stomach.”

“So they cry because their tummy feels funny?” Holly asked while watching him with judgy eyes, as if testing his intelligence.

“Yeah. When you’re a baby, weird feelings are scary.”

“But, why?”

He groaned as Holly kept on firing questions and decided to let El answer them as he fell back against the couch and started playing an acoustic version of _Let it Be_.

Half an hour later, when the baby had finished eating and El let an expectant Holly burp her, Holly declared babies weren’t fun.

“What were you expecting from her? Did you think she would play Barbies with you?” Mike laughed as his little sister watched the wiggling baby on El’s arms.

“Well, no... but I thought she would do... I don’t know, something! I didn’t think she would just lay there and do nothing!”

“She’s a baby, Holls. Maybe when she’s older she can come and play with you.” El answered with a grin as she tried not to laugh at the little girl’s dismay.

“Mmm, no. By the time she’s my age I will be thinking about boys and stuff.” Holly replied as she climbed on his lap and snuggled into his embrace.

“Tired?” Mike asked as he rubbed her back and ignored her previous comment.

“Uh huh.” She yawned. “I want El to tell me a story.”

“She’s a little busy with the baby. C’mon, I’ll put you to bed.”

“No, you suck. I want El.” Pouted Holly and he could only widen his eyes as El laughed out loud at her comment.

“Fine, you take the baby and I’ll put Holly to bed.” El said as she came closer to him, laughter still on her voice.

He took Hannah from her and teasingly glared at his giggling sister who promptly disappeared from his view, taking El with her.

“Just me and you now, sweet cheeks.” He told the baby as he walked back to the couch and settled himself against the armrest, stretching his legs on the length of the couch.

“No, no, no. Don’t go crying on me now.” He shushed the baby as she started making fussy noises. He grunted a little as he lifted her by the underarms and planted her tiny feet against his stomach.

“Are you going to go back to sleep anytime soon? Are you going to let me and my girl have some alone time before my parents come back? Huh?” He watched as the baby’s eyelashes fluttered and she watched his moving mouth with curious eyes. “Are you ignoring me? Talk to me Hannah.” He got a smile from the baby as he stretched his voice to have a funny tone in her name. “Oh, you like that sound? Hannah? Hannah!” He repeated and let out a chuckle as he got a squeal in response.

“You’re very cute, you know? You let us have a nice dinner and you didn’t cry a single time. You’re such a nice baby. When I have my kids someday, I’ll teach them to be more like you. Do you have any tips for my future children? Huh?” He made funny faces at her while her little legs bent up and down, moving her arms and taking her fingers inside her mouth.

“Wow! What green eyes you have!” He said as he brought her closer to his face and scrunched his nose, making her squeal again.

He grimaced when she suddenly took her fingers out of her mouth and pressed them against his cheek, wetting his skin with her saliva. “Ugh, gross. You don’t do that to people!”

He saw her eyes flutter again and he decided to make her sleep again. Or try to anyways.

He sat up again and cradled her close to his chest with one arm, while the other grabbed his guitar from the floor.

“Okay. All right, Hannah. Are you going back to sleep? Hopefully you will, so El and I can squeeze in some kisses before we get interrupted.” He went back to his previous position, laying the baby against his chest and pressing her there with his guitar, making sure he didn’t squish her.

He made shushing noises at her when she stared whining, and then she settled as his voice rumbled low inside his chest while he sang softly to her. He sang a variety of whatever came to mind and meaningless accords on his guitar, and by the time he was finished, she had since long fallen asleep again.

He carefully stretched the arm that wasn’t holding her, and left the guitar on the floor. He gently rubbed her back while he contemplated the great job he made as a babysitter. “I could give Steve a run for his money.”

He heard a tinkling laugh behind him and he turned his head to see El leaning against the entrance of the living room.

“Hey.” He shot her a grin as she came to stand behind the couch he was laying on, her arms supporting her weight as she leaned on her tiptoes. “Is Holly asleep?”

“Mhmh.” She nodded as she watched him with a smile.

“What?” He asked as he mirrored her smile.

“... you look good with a baby.”

He lifted his eyebrows in surprise and then wiggled them up and down. “Just say when.” He said suggestively.

She threw her head back and let out a laugh as he chuckled with her.

“Not for a long time, mouth breather.”

He chuckled as he sat up and gave the baby to her once she rounded the couch.

He watched her bend down and lay the baby back in her pillow nest on the La-Z Boy as he stood up and stretched his arms as far as he could, pooping his back.

“Babies are tiring.” He said as she came into his arms and hugged him. “Cute, but tiring.”

Her laugh was muffled against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly to him and lifting her from the ground a little. She let a squeal out, and he took her soft face in his hands once he put her down.

He ran his thumbs on her cheekbones and gave her a soft smile which she returned.

“Hey, stranger.” She said to him as he pulled her even closer.

“Hey, babe.” He answered as he closed the gap between their lips.

He softly pecked her lips and then her cheek. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.” He muttered against her skin.

“Holly wouldn’t let me leave without another story.”

“That little girl is a menace.”

They laughed and he pulled her on top of him once he lay back down on the couch, hugging her close and pressing kisses to her hair.

She sighed happily and snuggled into the skin of his neck as warmth spread through her body.

They stayed there for a while, exchanging kisses and touches while discussing their possible babysitters club.

“I’ll feed them and you’ll change them.”

“Yeah, right.” He answered sarcastically. “Maybe we should include Holly in our business and let her handle the dirty diapers.” She laughed at his words while rubbing her nose to his skin, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

“Mmm, you missed.” Mike murmured.

She chuckled and lifted her head a little bit more to press her lips against his, teasingly flicking her tongue on them when they separated.

His fingers splayed out against her upper and lower back, rubbing gentle circles on her warm skin under her sweater.

“I love you.” He mumbled against her lips and felt them stretch into a smile.

“Me, too.” She whispered, staring into his eyes. “Even if you suck at telling stories.”

She laughed as he groaned. “I don’t understand where that came from. She used to love my stories. But now she only wants princes and princesses, and pink and happy endings. She used to love brave soldiers and dragons.” He pouted against her fingers as she ran them against his lips.

“She’s changing. She’s growing up.”

“Yeah,” He said nostalgically while letting out a big sigh. “She’s growing up.”

She smiled up at him and pressed a final kiss to his lips, and then settled against his chest.

That’s how his parents found them; snuggled up on the couch fast asleep, while Hannah slept soundly a few feet away from them.

Later on, he thought it wasn’t such a bad way to spend Friday night, after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, Review and tell me what you think :)


End file.
